Why the Model 5?
Imperialâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Good Companion
Model 5, along with the Model
4, was introduced in 1957 and
continued to be manufactured
until 1961, when the Model 6
superseded both.
The 5 features a lightweight and
durable cast aluminium body.
All controls are in easy reach:
the only times you need lift
the bonnet is to change ribbon
or clean the typeheads. The
basket shift has a finger-freindly

2

featherlight touch and the 5â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s
streamlining is not only stylish but
protects as well.
Other winning features are quickset + and â&#x20AC;&#x201C; tabulator function,
total platen control for precision
paper register, a two-colour/
stencil selector and automatic
ribbon reverse.

T

he Good Companion
was developed between
Leicester’s Imperial
Typewriter Co. Ltd, and German
manufacturer Torpedo. Originally
the Regent, it was renamed ‘The
Good Companion’ with the
permission of JB Priestley who
was author of the best-selling
1929 novel of the same name.
Buy a Good Companion
and you too can write
novels like Priestley
Add to this a royal appointment
to His Majesty King George V and
the Good Companion was set to
be a best-seller itself.
Production continued through
seven model variants until
1963, by which time all Imperial
portables were manufactured
in Hull. Imperial continued as a
typewriter brand until the 1970s.
Top: Imperial Typerwriter Company HQ, London
Street, Leicester, UK, 2010. kiranparmar
Middle: British Prime Minister Harold Wilson (L)
shares a manly moment with fellow Yorkshireman,
author and playwright JB Priestley on a visit to
the University of Bradford, West Yorkshire, UK.
university of bradford archive

Bottom: lover all things Imperial, HRH King
George V in his Sunday best. royal collection